Millions of Americans suffer from poor sleep hygiene or sleep impairment. Sleep impairment is frequently a result of multi-factorial somatic disturbances. Common causes of impaired sleep include obstructive sleep apnea, lower back pain, and anxiety.
Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) is quite prevalent in the United States. Approximately ten percent of persons ages thirty through sixty (five percent of women and fifteen percent of men) have OSA. OSA has been associated with cardiovascular disease such as myocardial infarctions and arrhythmias, and increased risk of stroke. Experts suggest the possibility that sixty percent of patients with OSA have positional apnea. Patients with positional OSA may develop or exacerbate apnea episodes when lying on their backs (supine position). There is also evidence that patients with severe snoring increase their snoring episodes when lying on their backs.
Sleep devices have been produced to encourage non-supine sleep positioning. One example is a t-shirt that includes pockets sewn into the back of the t-shirt at the thoracic spine. The pockets can be filled with objects such as tennis balls or plastic tubes, to cause uncomfortable pressure when an individual is in the supine position. The uncomfortable pressure discourages the tendency to sleep in the supine position. Other examples of positional sleep devices have also been developed to encourage lateral or prone sleeping posture. Many of these devices use halter or harness or halter structures to position pads, pillows, or pouches along the thoracic spine.
Sleep hygiene can also be negatively impacted by lower back pain or general anxiety. Thus, individuals with back pain may benefit from thermal therapy or electrical nerve stimulation therapy, and individuals with anxiety may benefit from massage therapy, while sleeping.